How does Flywheel energy storage work?

Flywheel energy storage (FES) works by accelerating a rotor (flywheel) to a very high speed and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy.

What are the components of a flywheel energy storage system?

A flywheel energy storage system consists of bearings, a rotating mass, a motor-generator, and a frequency inverter. Fig. 14.4 shows the main components of a flywheel energy storage system . The design of the components influences the overall efficiency, and can help in reducing power transmission losses.

What is flywheel energy storage system (fess)?

Flywheel Energy Storage Systems (FESS) are found in a variety of applications ranging from grid-connected energy management to uninterruptible power supplies. With the progress of technology, there is fast renovation involved in FESS application.

Are flywheel energy storage systems suitable for commercial applications?

Among the different mechanical energy storage systems, the flywheel energy storage system (FESS) is considered suitable for commercial applications. An FESS, shown in Figure 1, is a spinning mass, composite or steel, secured within a vessel with very low ambient pressure.

What are the potential applications of flywheel technology?

Other opportunities are new applications in energy harvest, hybrid energy systems, and flywheel’s secondary functionality apart from energy storage. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

How much energy does a flywheel store?

The low-speed rotors are generally composed of steel and can produce 1000s of kWh for short periods, while the high-speed rotors produce kWh by the hundreds but can store tens of kWh hours of energy [ 35 ]. Figure 17. Flywheel energy storage system in rail transport, reproduced with permission from [ 35 ].